Watch: MP hopefuls on Brexit, NHS and students in Lincoln Debate 2017

Six of the seven candidates standing in the June 8 general election in the city took place in the live Lincoln Debate on Monday evening, tackling questions on policing, Brexit, the NHS and more.

The 100-minutes special programme was hosted by The Lincolnite and BBC Radio Lincolnshire and took place at the Drill Hall in the city centre. Candidates addressed a live audience, as well as over 20,000 people on Facebook.

Almost 800 people commented with their views and questions on the live feed on The Lincolnite‘s Facebook page. On Twitter, hundreds had their say using #LincolnDebate. During the programme the hashtag was trending in the top 10 on Twitter, reaching over 250,000 people and achieving over 2.5 million impressions.

Listeners also tuned in live on BBC Radio Lincolnshire.

All seven candidates standing in the constituency were invited to take part in the event. Those who attended were:

Ben Loryman – Green Party

Karen Lee – Labour

Caroline Kenyon – Liberal Democrats

Nick Smith – UKIP

Iain Scott-Burdon – Independent

Phil Gray – Independent

Conservative candidate Karl McCartney refused to take part.

Watch the full debate

Meanwhile, outside of the debate

Both candidates and commenters online expressed disappointment that the incumbent MP candidate failed to show for the event and loud jeers were heard from the audience at the mention of his absence during the programme.